Ginny Weasley and the Writings of Silenus
by Arikel
Summary: Ginny has a lot on her mind for her final year at Hogwarts. Voldemort was defeated, but at a great cost. Harry, the boy she loves, is gone. But when she hears about the writings of a prophet named Silenus, she finds something she lost. Hope.
1. The Mourning After

_"I know my fate. One day my name will be associated with the memory of something tremendous--a crisis without equal on earth, the most profound collision of conscience, a decision that was conjured up against everything that had been believed, demanded, hallowed so far. I am no man, I am dynamite." - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche_

**Chapter 1- The Mourning After**

It had been a long, harsh summer for the Weasley family. But as Ginny came to think about it, in truth it had been a harsh couple of years. In her sixth year at Hogwarts, Ginny had been forced to get on the train when the only place she wanted to be was with her brother, friend, and boyfriend as they hunted down Tom Riddle. She had spent many nights that summer after Harry broke up with her dreaming about fighting side by side with him against the monster that had possessed her during her first year. Tears threatened to spill as she thought about the boy she had lost. The only one she had ever loved.

Ginny closed her eyes, remembering Hermione's account of what had happened in the final battle.

* * *

Ron had engaged Lucius Malfoy and had been so afflicted with the Cruciatus Curse that to this day Ginny's brother had not awoken. Hermione had stopped Malfoy before the vile Death Eater managed to kill the young man she'd come to love, and as she dropped at Ron's side to see that he was okay, Harry ran deep into the caves in which Riddle had been hiding. When Hermione became aware that Harry was no longer with her, she cast a suspension spell on Ron to make sure that his condition didn't worsen and then ran to find her friend. As she came to a large cavern lit by a handful of torches, she saw Harry and Lord Voldemort hurling spells at each other, each desperately trying to gain the upper hand and destroy his opponent. Hermione's memory after that point was a little circumspect given the damage inflicted on her in the next moment. But from what little she was able to recall, Hermione remembered Harry and Voldemort casting spells at each other at the exact same moment. The spells collided, and a destructive backlash swept over the cavern and threw her back, slamming Hermione into the cave wall.

A couple months later, Hermione woke up in St. Mungo's. Her mother was sitting in the chair at bedside, and when Mrs. Granger saw her daughter's eyes flutter open she called out for her husband. A moment later, Mr. Granger, Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley and Rufus Scrimgeour entered the room.

"Honey? How do you feel?"

"Tired," Hermione whispered, her voice raw. Mrs. Granger nodded sympathetically and took out an ice chip from a cup on the bedside table.

"Here, honey," she said and slipped the chip over Hermione's lips and into her daughter's mouth. Hermione sucked on the chip gratefully as the cool water helped to wet her parched throat.

"You gave us all quite a fright, dear," Mrs. Weasley said from the other side of the bed, holding Hermione's other hand. Hermione tried to clear her throat and smiled at her boyfriend's mother tiredly.

"Ron?"

Mrs. Weasley's smile faltered slightly, and she patted Hermione's hand affectionately.

"Don't you worry about him, dear. He'll be just fine," Mrs. Weasley said with a forced smile. Hermione knew that Ron's mother didn't want to worry her, but Hermione didn't have the strength to hear bad news right now.

"Harry?"

Scrimgeour cleared his throat and frowned at her.

"That's something I was hoping that you could answer, Miss Granger," the Minister of Magic stated in a gravelly voice. "What was the last thing you remember?"

Mrs. Granger and Mrs. Weasley both glared at the Minister, but he ignored them, his gaze holding Hermione's. The young Gryffindor cleared her throat, and her mother placed another ice chip in Hermione's mouth. Hermione sucked on it to wet her throat and smiled at her mother appreciatively before answering the Minister's question.

"Harry and Voldemort were battling each other in the cave. They… they cast a spell at each other at the… same time. The spells…" Hermione's voice cracked, and Mrs. Granger placed another chip in her daughter's mouth. "The spells crashed and a… shockwave hit me. That's all I remember," she finished and felt herself getting sleepy from the exhaustion of just staying awake and talking.

"Do you remember what spell?" the Minister asked, pressing on.

"I think that's enough for now," Mrs. Weasley said petulantly, scowling at Scrimgeour. Again the Minister ignored the concerned parents and asked his question again. Hermione didn't attempt to speak but just shook her head. Scrimgeour frowned and let out an annoyed breath.

"What h-happened to… Harry?" Hermione asked as her eyes started to drift close.

"We don't know," Scrimgeour answered before anyone mustered the courage. "But given the destruction of the cavern, we doubt there was anything le…."

"That's enough!" Arthur Weasley said in a very angry voice. "H-Hermione needs her rest now. Wouldn't you agree?"

The Minister turned his attention away from Hermione for the first time and met Mr. Weasley's heated gaze for a moment before nodding his head and leaving the room. Mr. Weasley sighed, and Hermione wanted to ask more. She wanted to know what happened to her friend, but her exhaustion was too much, and she fell fast asleep.

* * *

Ginny sighed as she leaned back against the tree next to the lake in front of the Burrow. She looked over as she saw movement out of the corner of her eye and smiled softly as her brother Fred sank down to sit beside her.

"Mum's worried," he said softly, looking over at his sister. "You've been out here by yourself almost all day."

"Well, it IS safe now, Fred. No more evil in the world," she said with a forced smile.

"Oh, if only that were true, sister mine," Fred replied with a slight smile, and there was a pregnant pause. Fred's brow furrowed a moment, and then he continued hesitantly. "Uh… y'know, the Ministry, lawyers, uh… other…" he trailed off uncomfortably, and Ginny sighed as a painful knot twisted in her chest. She knew he hesitated because as long as he had been alive, George had been right there at Fred's side, continuing the conversation. Playing off his banter. But ever since George got hit with the Killing Curse during the war, Fred hadn't been the same. The Death Eaters had only killed one of the twins, but with one spell they had effectively destroyed them both. After George's death, the fun-loving, irreverent spirit in her brother had left him. Fred no longer had the love of pranks and jokes he once had. He had placed management of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in Verity's capable hands and had moved back to the Burrow to 'look after Mum.'

Ginny laid her head on her brother's shoulder and tried to give him as much comfort as she could. She was still young, but Ginny knew quite well how unfair life could be. To have lost one beloved brother to the war, another fallen in a coma, and the love of her life… missing and, by the wizarding world, presumed dead. Many times over the course of the summer Ginny had cursed herself for having let him go last year, even though they had both agreed that it was the best thing to do the summer before. Despite their agreement, Harry had ended up at Hogwarts a number of times last year as Harry, Ron and Hermione needed to do some research, or needed a safe place to stay. Every time he stayed there, Harry and Ginny had found each other, and, despite their best intentions, the passion they felt for each other led them closer and closer until the Christmas break. Ginny's cheeks colored as she recalled that particular time… her parents had visited Charlie and didn't want her living at the Burrow without them, so she had stayed at school. Harry had come during that break as well, and… everything changed. Ginny blushed again and forced thoughts of her love out of her head.

The youngest Weasley got to her feet and took her big brother's hand, grunting as she pulled Fred to his feet.

"C'mon. I need to get packed for school tomorrow. Wanna help?"

Fred nodded his head slightly, and they quietly strolled back to the rickety structure they lovingly referred to as home.


	2. Murder on the Hogwart's Express

**Chapter 2- Murder on the Hogwarts Express**

Breakfast at the Burrow the next morning was a hectic business. Mrs. Weasley was bustling around the kitchen getting the bangers and mash out on the table and enough bacon to feed a small army- which, a few years ago, had been the case, but as of late, the Weasley's breakfast table was seriously depleted of its usual occupants. Today, just Ginny, Fred, and their parents were at the table. Ginny spread some orange marmalade onto a roll and took a bite as her mother continued rambling.

"... and remember, Ginny dear, that this is N.E.W.T.'s year. So study hard. Try not to...," Mrs. Weasley continued as Ginny tuned her out and rolled her eyes in Fred's direction. Her brother cracked a smile and stuffed his mouth with mash so as to not laugh out loud. Ginny sighed, actually wishing he would. It had been a long time since her brother had done more than crack a weak smile. Ginny set her mind to cheering him up before she boarded that train today.

After eating, Ginny gave her mom a peck on the cheek and headed upstairs to her room. Sitting down at her writing desk, Ginny pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill.

_Hermione,_

_Well, it's the first day of classes. I'm at the same time looking forward to it and dreading it. The first day of classes always brings an excitement, and I had a hard time sleeping last night. I wish you and Ron and Harry would be around this year as you were in past years. I miss you. _

_How's Ox College? How are classes? Anything fun?_

_Write me soon._

_Love, _

_Ginny_

Ginny tied the letter around Pigwidgeon's leg and sent the owl off to Hermione. Reluctantly leaving her room, Ginny dragged her trunk down the stairs and out to the car waiting for her to take her to her last year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

* * *

Ginny walked alongside her brother, Fred, as they headed to Platform 9 ¾. She smiled as she noticed a young boy confusedly looking between the signs for nine and ten. He was terribly thin, wearing clothes that were a couple sizes too big for him, and a cricket cap. Ginny smiled, remembering the first time she ever saw Harry. Her mother had bent over and warmly offered to help him when Harry was looking for the way onto the platform.

Mrs. Weasley smiled as she saw the young boy and stopped to help him. Ginny smiled, reminded so long ago as her mother had bent over and warmly offered to help Harry when he was looking for the way onto the platform.

"Are you lost, young man?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Y-yes ma'am. I'm… looking for…," he stopped and took off the cricket cap from his head and pulled out a piece of paper from inside it. "Platform nine… and three-quarters?"

Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Right this way," she said and showed the young boy how to get onto the platform. As they came to the train, Fred loaded Ginny's trunk onboard while she hugged her parents and said her goodbyes. Ginny turned and hugged her brother tightly as he exited the train.

"You take care, Fred. Write me, okay?"

"Don't do anything w… I wouldn't do," he said with a slight smile, and Ginny forced a smile on her face. There was a pang in her heart at a fleeting reminder of their mutual loss and Ginny squeezed his hand.

"So… don't burn down the school?" she asked sarcastically, and Fred grinned, giving his sister a hug again as the train whistle blew. Ginny turned and kissed him on the cheek, evoking the magic she'd placed on herself that morning before leaving. She grinned as she saw the stain of lipstick appear on his cheek as if Fred had been kissed by some scarlet woman.

"Ginevra Weasley!" her mom howled. "What is that on your face?" Mrs. Weasley scowled and started trying to wipe something off Ginny's cheek. Looking over at Fred, she saw a sly smile on his face.

"Never prank a prankster, Gin."

Ginny forced a sigh as her mother wiped the lipstick of her daughter's face that resulted from Fred's countercurse. Ginny waved goodbye and boarded the train, looking out the window and grinning widely as she saw more kisses appear on Fred's face. God, sometimes her brother was so predictable. Blowing him a kiss as Mrs. Weasley scowled and tried to wipe the kisses off her son's face now, Ginny took a compartment to herself. Ginny had heard that everyone except her friend, Heather, wasn't returning this year. Ginny had owled them back insisting that they just had to come to Hogwarts this year. That it wouldn't be the same without them. But with Dumbledore's death a couple years ago, the school had suffered a severe drop in attendance. It was as if the school spirit had left with Dumbledore when he passed on in search of the next great adventure.

She had written to her friends with threats of violence if they didn't come back to school, but their parents were adamant. This year, Ginny was, with the exception of Heather, alone and, apparently, destined to be lonely. Ginny sighed and pulled out Arnold, her Pygmy Puff, and smiled as it purred softly. She looked up as the door to her compartment opened, and the young boy from the platform looked in at her shyly.

"Uh… every… everything's taken. C-can I sit here?"

Ginny nodded and smiled at him kindly. Truth be told, she was in a mood to be alone right now, but she didn't want to be rude. By the looks of it, he was a first year and wouldn't know anyone yet. However, having not gotten any sleep yet, Ginny made a mental note to talk to him after taking a short nap.

Ginny awoke some time later. Ginny stretched and started to yawn and then started as she found she was making no noise. She turned to talk to her compartment companion but froze when she saw the young boy's unblinking gaze staring straight ahead, his mouth open in shock and his arms hanging lifelessly at his side. Ginny's mouth opened in a silent scream and she tried to scramble away from the body. Ginny stared at the poor boy for a long moment in a pained horror before the shock and fear was consumed in a fire of righteous anger.

Ginny jumped up and threw the compartment door open, looking around, but she saw no one in the hall. Ginny noticed as she stepped into the hall that she was able to hear the sounds of the train now, so the Silencing Charm must have been placed on the compartment. Pulling out her wand, Ginny pointed it at the room she just vacated.

"Finite Incantatem," she recited and stepped back in, now able to hear the noises of talking in the nearby compartments and the rolling of the train over the tracks. She looked at the unfortunate boy staring lifelessly at her- the boy whose name she never learned. Purposefully, Ginny went to find an adult. She went up a couple cars before she noticed the witch pushing the teacart.

"Ma'am," Ginny said, rushing up to her. "I… need you to come with me. There's been… a murder," Ginny finished in a whisper. "You need to come quickly."

The witch paled at Ginny's news and mutely nodded her head, following the seventh year Gryffindor back to her compartment. The witch gasped when she saw the body of the young boy, and when a student poked her head out to ask about the tray, the witch hissed for her to get back in her compartment.

"Oh… oh, this is not good. Oh… oh… I can hear the owls now!" the witch cried plaintively, and Ginny looked at her incredulously.

"Pull yourself together!" Ginny growled, grabbing the witch's robes. "The students shouldn't have to see this, and the teachers at Hogwarts need to be notified. Go!"

Ginny's authoritative tone seemed to bring the train witch out of her despair, and she nodded, heading to the front of the train. Ginny sighed, knowing that this was probably the first time that witch had ever seen death before. She most likely served her entire life on this train, and the worse thing she ever saw was a bully like Draco Malfoy picking on the other students. A death on the Hogwarts train was… unheard of.

Ginny looked out into the hall and, seeing that their conversation hadn't brought any unwanted attention, closed the blinds and looked at the body. Not really knowing why, Ginny lay the body down, thinking he'd feel more comfortable that way. When she did, the boy's cricket cap fell off onto the floor. Kneeling to pick it up, Ginny noticed a scrap of paper fall out of the hat from where it had been hidden between his cap and his head. She remembered that he had kept a piece of paper with the name of the platform he was looking for under it, but there was a piece of parchment. Like something torn out of a book. Looking at it curiously, Ginny unfolded the parchment and read what looked like a copy of a prophecy with the boy's own handwritten notes along the margins.

_When there is an eclipse of the Sun_ **(Harry Potter?)  
**_The monster will be seen at noon _**(You-Know-Who)  
**_It will be interpreted otherwise_  
_Unfortunate, for none will foresee it _**(?)  
**_In the isles of the Sun under the eye of the seventh _**(England/Scotland, Ginny Weasley?)  
**_The seer is murdered before his vision is realized_ **(?)  
**_She will find love in the temple of the Sun  
__Into darkness she must walk if the Sun is to live _**(Harry Potter will return?)**

Ginny Weasley gasped, and clutched the parchment to her chest.

"Harry?"


	3. Love lives on hope

**Chapter 3- Love lives on hope, and dies when hope is dead **

The rest of the ride to Hogwarts was, thankfully, uneventful. The train witch locked the door to the compartment Ginny had been using, and the youngest Weasley was forced to move out and past the Prefect's car to the front of the train and sit at the driver's side for the rest of the trip. Like the witch, the driver was clearly distraught that there had been a "serious disturbance" on his shift, and so the trip was spent in a tense silence, broken only by the sounds of Ginny's quiet sobbing. Ginny thought she was prepared for anything. She thought that she could handle anything. But she woke up in what she thought was possibly the safest place in the world, next to Hogwarts itself and the Burrow, and found that someone had murdered someone in her own compartment. She had slept, blissfully unaware of the oldest evil being committed just a couple feet away from her and she reacted with a strength of purpose. Now that the adrenaline was gone, now that her strength failed her, Ginny broke down. Her attempts to keep her tears back and her crying soft had died a few moments ago along with her pride.

For Ginny, it was the longest train ride in her seven years at this school. Once the train finally came to a stop, Ginny put everything away and moved to leave but was stopped by the driver.

"A teacher will be down here shortly to speak with you, Miss Weasley. Just wait here," he said and stepped out. Ginny sighed and sank back down, sitting on her trunk. Pulling the parchment back out of her pocket, Ginny started reading again. She hoped a sixth viewing would reveal a clue that the previous five had not.

"Weasley."

Ginny looked up in surprise when the silver-haired Professor Elphias Doge came up to the compartment and looked in. She remembered her first, irreverent thought from last year at seeing the wizard was that he struck her as an odd choice for a DADA teacher being… old and all. But he hadn't died, been obliviated, retired, gotten carried off by a wild herd of centaurs or turned out to be working with the enemy, something unprecedented during Voldemort's time. But Ginny reflected that maybe now that old Tom was gone, then the luck of the DADA teacher's position would change.

"Professor. Can I go now?"

"In a moment, Miss Weasley," Doge said in a wheezy voice and sat down in the driver's seat with a groan. "Problem with age…" he mumbled and massaged his legs. "… your knees…."

Ginny waited, a little impatiently, as the elderly wizard rubbed his knees. Without really thinking about it, Ginny folded up the scrap of parchment and stuffed it in her robes.

"So… what did you see, Miss Weasley?"

Ginny looked up and, while the Professor was still rubbing his legs, she had the feeling that he had been studying her a moment ago.

"Uh… this boy… I never got his name. He took a room with me and I dozed off. When I woke up, I… found that a silencing charm had been placed on the room and the boy had been struck by the Killing Curse…."

Ginny's finger rested on the parchment in her robe, and she considered mentioning it, but… this seemed personal. It was a prophecy about her… and Harry. Something she wasn't ready to share. Not yet.

"Anything else, Miss Weasley?" Doge asked in a light tone, but in a way that made Ginny feel he knew she was holding something back.

"No, Professor," she answered and pulled the innocent face she was so accustomed to using with her mum. Doge nodded and stood up with another groan.

"Well, Miss Weasley, I suppose you should head on up to the Great Hall. They should be eating about now."

Ginny nodded and performed the levitation charm on her trunk and dragged it up to Hogwarts. She looked towards the Great Hall and heard the sounds of laughter drift towards her. Sighing, Ginny dragged her trunk up the steps to Gryffindor Tower, not really feeling like being around people right now.

"Hesperides," Ginny breathed out the password in a sigh.

"No," the Fat Lady replied, inspecting her nails.

"Oh c'mon!" Ginny scowled, knowing that the password from last year wouldn't work, but trying anyway. "Let me in!"

"Not the right password," the Fat Lady said with a bit too much enjoyment for Ginny's taste.

"Open the bloody door!"

"Nope."

Ginny's face turned bright red, and she whipped out her wand, determined to blow a hole through the portrait.

"Bollocks!" she exclaimed and slammed her trunks down before sitting on them moodily.

"Such language," the Fat Lady sighed and shook her head behind Ginny. "Kids today!"

"Shut up," Ginny snarled and put her wand away. She wasn't going to head back downstairs into the hall. She wasn't all that hungry after finding this poor boy murdered in her own compartment. She wished Hermione was here… or even, heaven forbid, Ron. But most of all, she wished she could see Harry again.

"I remember when there used to be polite kids here."

"Shut up."

"They never used such foul language," the Fat Lady continued, ignoring Ginny's tone.

"Shut. Up."

"I miss the polite ones. Never banged my doors. Never used such language. Always nice to me."

Ginny stood up and turned on the portrait, drawing her wand again.

"Like that Harry Potter," she sighed. "I miss him."

Ginny deflated immediately and marveled for a moment at the fact that a portrait could miss students.

"Yeah," she whispered, her hand dropping to her side and a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Me too."

"Do you think he might come back this year? Like he did last year?"

Ginny looked up at the portrait and smiled slightly.

"I hope so," she whispered and sat back down with her head in her hands, drowning out the portrait's constant chatter.

After an interminable amount of time, during which the Fat Lady began commenting about the beautiful weather in Violet's painting, Ginny was relieved to see finally the first years being led by the Gryffindor Prefect up to the tower.

"Right this way," the sixth-year student said and then stopped when she saw Ginny sitting at the top of the stairs outside the portrait.

"Oh, hi Ginny. Need in?"

"Yeah, uh…," Ginny paused, trying to remember the girl's name and failing. "Thanks."

"No problem," she said with a smile and looked at the Fat Lady. "Acacia."

The Fat Lady nodded, and the portrait swung open, revealing the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower. Ginny sighed, cast the spell on her trunks again and pulled them up the steps into the girl's dormitory. Pushing open the door into her room, Ginny saw one of her dorm mates, Heather Maxell, unpacking a trunk full of dress clothes.

"Ginny," she called out cheerfully and gave her dorm mate a hug. "How are you? Have you been crying?"

Ginny smiled softly at the concerned look on Heather's face. Heather wasn't a close friend, but after seven years of sharing a room they had grown pretty close. Heather had come running to find Ginny in their fifth year when she heard that Harry had kissed Ginny in the common room after the Ravenclaw game. Then last year when Harry was spending time at the castle, Heather had been the first one Ginny had talked to about her developing relationship. Normally, Ginny would have talked to Hermione or one of her friends about this, but Hermione was secluded in the library most of the time she was at school last year, and most of her friends hadn't returned after Dumbledore's death. Not to mention the fact that Hermione was practically Harry's sister. It would have been like talking to Ron about her sex life. That just wasn't happening.

"I'm fine," she said gently and pushed her locker down at the foot of her bed. "Tired."

"I didn't see you in the Hall."

Ginny sat down on the bed and looked at her dormie, wondering how much she should disclose. The absence of Hermione and her friends was a sudden pang in Ginny's heart, and she knew that she needed someone to confide in.

"I was held back on the train. A boy was killed in my compartment."

"What!"

Ginny nodded, and Heather sat down on the bed next to her, laying a comforting hand on her knee.

"What happened? Who was it? Who did it? What…?"

"I… I don't know. I, uh, I think he was a first year student. I saw him at King's Cross and he didn't know how to get onto the platform. Then he came to my compartment, not finding any other place that was empty…," Ginny trailed off, looking thoughtful. When Ginny went to get the witch, and later when she was taken to the front of the train, she saw that there had actually been a number of compartments that weren't being used. After the school had been attacked a couple years ago, fewer students returned to Hogwarts, so the train wasn't as full as it had been in her first five years. So the boy had lied when he said there was no room. He had wanted to share a room with her.

"What happened then?"

Ginny buried that train of thought to dwell on later and all the questions to which she had an answer. At the end of the recounting, Heather just sat, stunned.

"Wow. I just… wow," Heather stared at her dormmate and finally recovered her senses. "This isn't good, Gin. Do you know who killed him? Or why?"

"Don't know about the who," Ginny replied and pulled out the parchment. "But… the why might have something to do with this."

Heather unfolded it and read the prophecy and the notes.

"Oh, Ginny. Gin… do you think…? Do you know what this is?"

"No. But I aim to find out," Ginny glanced over as the door opened and her other dormmates started to come in. "Don't tell anyone," Ginny whispered as she grabbed the prophecy and stuffed it in her robes. Heather frowned but nodded her head. Ginny smiled slightly and started unpacking her things while listening to her dormmates gossiping about summer developments and tried to get absorbed into a more normal life. At least for a little while.


	4. The Hermetic Order of the Falcons

**Chapter 4- The Hermetic Order of the Falcons**

In just a few hours, Ginny was brought up to speed on the development of relationships over the course of the summer. Her dorm mate Lavinia Latium had started seeing Colin Creevey during the summer and told the girls all about their first "explosive" date. Turns out that they had Apparated to Florean Fortescue's to get some ice cream. Most of the Wizarding world was still celebrating the defeat of Voldemort and fireworks from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes were going off almost nonstop. While they were eating the newest flavor of ice cream at one of the smaller tables, a firework came zipping in through the open door. It exploded in the middle of the ice cream, sending chunks of every flavor flying around the room. The girls laughed until they cried at Lavinia's description of Colin pulling chilly globs of the Cool Ghoul flavor out of his hair. When they finally subsided into chuckling instead of outright laughing, they heard a noise at the window. Heather opened it, and Pig flew in. Ginny smiled as Ron's old owl landed on the bed beside her, and Ginny took the letter from Pig's leg. Unrolling the letter, Ginny read Hermione's tidy handwriting.

_Ginny, _

_I fully know how you feel about classes! This is an exciting year for you at Hogwarts! N.E.W.T. year is one of the most challenging and I really regret that I missed mine due to the war with his ugliness, the Dark Lord Muck. _

Ginny snickered at Hermione's play on Voldemort's title. And realized that it was fitting, since Lord Muck was the depreciatory name for a pompous conceited man.

_Classes here are good. (And it's Oxford and Cherwell Valley College, not Ox College, Ginny.) I'm taking 21 hours and hoping to finish my degree in three years. Then, hopefully I'll have enough understanding of Muggle science to be able to come up with some spell that will help Ronald. It's very different being in a school where I have to hide my magical abilities. It's been a very illuminating couple of weeks, but I look forward to returning to the Wizarding world. _

_I plan on coming home for the Christmas holidays, and I'm hoping that maybe I can spend a week or so at the Burrow before coming back to Oxford. I miss you too and hope that I'll get to see you at the break._

_Hope to hear from you soon._

_Love,_

_Hermione._

Starting to write a reply, Ginny looked up when there was a knock at the door. Lavinia went to get it and Ginny heard a soft voice call her name. Ginny turned and looked at the door, seeing a small second-year girl there, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Yes?"

"Uh… P-professor McGonagall wants… to see you. She said the password is… the same as it was at the end of last year."

"Thanks," Ginny replied and shook her head as the young girl stared at her for a minute longer before scampering off.

"That was weird," Ginny muttered and stuffed the letter from Hermione in her desk to reply to later.

"What? Her fascination with a celebrity?"

Ginny snorted and made a dismissive motion with her hand.

"Psh. Whatever. It's not like I'm the Boy-Who-Lived. I'm just the girl that… snogged the Boy-Who-Lived."

"Exactly," Heather said with a knowing smile. While Heather knew that Ginny and Harry had done more than just snogging, their dorm mates didn't. "I'll let you in on a secret here, Ginny. Coming from a Muggle family, I've seen some similarities between Muggles and wizards. Especially when it comes to celebrities. Muggles tend to believe that if you can, uh… rub up against a celebrity, so to speak, then some of that fame will rub off on you. Well, wizards kinda think the same way. And sometimes it's true. I mean, I'VE known since first year that you've always loved Harry Potter, but then a couple years ago the whole school found out that the feelings were mutual. You became the Girl-That-Harry-Potter-Loved. You're a celebrity now, yourself."

Ginny shook her head and frowned at her dorm mate.

"Just what I always wanted," Ginny muttered with a hint of annoyance and pulled her school robes back on to visit the Headmistress. Ginny passed through the Common Room with a wave to Colin and headed to McGonagall's office. Without running into any students or teachers, Ginny soon found herself in front of the stone gargoyle that hid the stairs up to the Headmistress' office. Ginny cleared her throat and spoke the password.

"Paracelsus," she said, and the gargoyle jumped aside, the wall split open, and Ginny ascended the moving stone stairs. When she came up to the door to the office, Ginny lifted the griffin knocker and dropped it against the brass plate twice.

"Enter," summoned the Headmistress' curt voice. Ginny stepped into the office and found that it had greatly changed since Dumbledore's death, and even from last year as McGonagall had finally moved all her belongings into the office. While the portraits of previous Headmasters and Headmistresses as well as the Sorting Hat remained, all of the odd little trinkets that belonged to Dumbledore were gone. In their place were a number of moving pictures of various former students on the Quidditch pitch performing unbelievable moves. Ginny noted, with a smile, that more than half of them were pictures of Gryffindors. Her smile faded slightly when she saw about half of those were pictures of Harry.

Taking a seat in front of McGonagall's black walnut desk with lyre-shaped legs and decorative floral iron stretchers, Ginny noticed an odd smell and looked around. She noticed a small box, looking more like some kind of tray, which was half-full of gray and white pebbles. Ginny was looking at it oddly and it suddenly dawned on her that she had seen Hermione create one of these for Crookshanks whenever she stayed over at the Burrow. She started to giggle at the sight of the Headmistress's kitty litter box until McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Something funny, Miss Weasley?"

"No, Professor," Ginny said with a straight, innocent face. "I, uh, I guess you wanted to see me about what happened on the train?"

"Indeed," McGonagall said, as the previously amused glint in her eye quickly disappeared and left Ginny wondering whether or not she had actually seen it. Certainly McGonagall didn't do something as… eccentric as use the kitty litter box when she was in her cat form. The Headmistress' words cut into Ginny's musings.

"I would like you to tell me what happened."

"Uh… I got to King's Cross with my parents and Fred about fifteen minutes before time to leave. The boy… who was killed… he was at the station and trying to find his way onto nine and three-quarters. My mother helped him out, and I boarded the train. After a while, the boy came to my compartment, saying that there wasn't any room anywhere else. Which, by the way, was a lie. So he was wanting to get a room with me for some reason, but anyways, I, uh, hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and so I ended up falling asleep on the train. When I woke up, I found that a silencing charm had been placed on the room and the boy was dead. I think he was hit by the Killing Curse."

McGonagall nodded and looked at Ginny shrewdly.

"Anything else?"

"No, ma'am," Ginny said, her hand unconsciously slipping inside her robe to rest on the parchment in her pocket. McGonagall held Ginny's gaze for a moment longer before nodding her head.

"Very well then. Get yourself off to bed."

Ginny nodded and went to the door. As her hand reached out, she was turned back by McGonagall's voice.

"I… never had the chance to say I was… sorry. About Mr. Potter. I understand that the two of you were…" McGonagall paused to clear her throat. "Close."

Nodding, Ginny took her hand away from the doorknob.

"You were in love?" McGonagall asked, and Ginny's brow furrowed. This was the first time Ginny had ever heard of the Headmistress speaking to a student of such things and on a level wholly different from a teacher speaking with a student. She sounded more like a concerned friend, attempting to comfort another. It brought a slight smile to Ginny's face.

"Do you… believe in love at first sight?"

McGonagall's eyes widened slightly, and a soft smile banished the perpetual frown that seemed to be permanently etched onto her face.

"I believe… that… such a thing is incredibly rare," McGonagall replied diplomatically.

"I knew I loved Harry from the first time I saw him. I loved him before I knew who he was, before I saw the mark on his forehead. Then over the years as I saw his courage… as I saw how he stood brave against the most terrible wizard of all time… I just loved him even more. I always have and I always will," she finished with a whisper and then looked back up at McGonagall to smile weakly. The Headmistress nodded at her student sadly and made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sniffle. Ginny wiped the corner of her eye and opened the door to the office to leave. Just before stepping out, she remembered something she wanted to ask.

"Professor? Who was the boy?"

"Ah… Jeremy Trelawney."

Ginny blanched slightly, and her hand touched the parchment in her robes.

"So… he was a Seer."

"Pardon?"

"Oh, uh, was he related to Professor Trelawney?"

"Her son. It's… I've written to Sibyll to notify her, but after she left when… Albus…" McGonagall cleared her throat and looked at Ginny. "Well, she's hard to get in touch with."

Ginny nodded and said goodnight to her Headmistress before leaving the office and returning to her room.

The next morning during breakfast, Ginny looked over her new class schedule and scowled. Heather leaned over her shoulder to look at Ginny's schedule.

"Hey, that's not so bad. Look, we've got Divination and Muggle Studies together."

Nodding, Ginny took a sip from her pumpkin juice, hardly hearing what her friend was saying. A moment later, Ginny felt Heather's hand grip her arm.

"Ginny! Don't look now, but Donninc Baroun is checking you out."

Ginny chuckled slightly and didn't look. She really didn't care about Donninc's Baroun's interest in her.

"Oh! He's coming this way," Heather said quickly and then tried to look nonchalant. Smirking, Ginny shook her head at her dorm mate's enthusiasm. Donninc was a Ravenclaw from the Baroun wizard family that dated back to 10th century England. He was a seventh year like the two of them, and rumor had it that he already had a position lined up with the Department of Mysteries once he graduated. Add to that the fact that he was quite the cutie, and Ginny could see how most the girls in the school fancied him. But Ginny didn't. To her, he was just another boy.

"Hey, Ginny. Could I have a word with you?"

Turning, Ginny saw Donninc standing behind her, a slightly haunted look to his eyes. Ginny started to say she had to get to class when she felt Heather elbow her in the ribs. Ginny snorted and nodded her head, following Donninc out of the Hall and into the Charms class.

"Uhm… Ginny, McGonagall told me that you were sharing the compartment where my… cousin was… killed. Did you… see anything?"

"Your cousin?" Ginny looked at him in surprise. She never realized that Trelawney was related to the prestigious Baroun family.

"Yeah," Donninc smiled sadly. "My mom's sister. We don't… well, when your aunt is a kook with a drinking problem you generally don't advertise your relationship. Plus, Aunt Sibyll never really wanted to have anything to do with us. Claimed that we never had the Sight," Donninc made a dismissive gesture and chuckled.

Clearing her throat, Ginny told Donninc the same thing she'd told Doge and McGonagall. Donninc sank into a chair and shook his head.

"You didn't… see anyone?"

Ginny shook her head sadly.

"Did he… have anything with him? Anything that…?"

Ginny frowned and quickly debated whether or not she could confide in him. He was the boy's cousin. He was related to a Seer. Maybe he could help. Ginny sighed and pulled the parchment out of her pocket. Without speaking, she handed the parchment over to Donninc. His brow furrowed, and he unfolded the page, reading what was written on it. The Ravenclaw took in a sharp breath and cleared his throat.

"Do you… know what this is?" he asked and saw Ginny shake her head. "It's one of many prophecies written down by Midas of Phrygia when he imprisoned, by means of copious wine, the satyr Silenus in his palace. Silenus, the adviser and instructor of Dionysus, was known to speak secrets into the ear of his captor with sufficient libation, and Midas wrote down these secrets into what became known as the Writings of Silenus. It is believed, by those who have studied his prophecies, that the future of the Wizarding community can be divined with a proper understanding of his words. Silenus foresaw the rise and fall of Grindelwald as well as the defeat of Voldemort. Silenus was… a true Seer," Donninc finished in a sort of awe. Ginny reached out and took the parchment from him, looking down at the writing and then back up at Donninc.

"But what does it MEAN? Am I the seventh? Is Harry the Sun? What is this temple? WHAT DOES IT MEAN?"

Donninc smiled and laid a calming hand on her shoulder.

"These are questions that we've been trying to answer for years, Ginny. I can't claim to have all the answers, but I'll help you any way I can."

"We?"

Holding up his left hand, which had a couple rings on it, Donninc smiled. One, Ginny recognized as the symbol of the Baroun family. The other was a gold band with an amethyst stone on it. Set into the stone was a gold falcon in flight.

"This is the symbol of the Hermetic Order of the Falcons. For… millennia, we have gathered and studied the words of Silenus at Midas' hand. Our collection is the most thorough throughout the wizarding world."

Donninc stopped as the door opened, and students started to file in for Charms class.

"I've got to go now. But Ginny," Donninc stepped closer so he wouldn't be overheard. "The Order's resources will be behind you. We'll help you find Harry," he said and squeezed her shoulder before leaving the classroom. Ginny herself was left with even more questions than she had woken up with this morning.


	5. Big Brothers Big Sisters

**Chapter 5- Big Brothers Big Sisters**

After Charms class, Ginny skipped lunch and went up to the library. She went through the books trying to find any mention of Silenus or the Hermetic Order of the Falcons. Given the fact that the last time she had stepped in the library was five years ago, she didn't really know where to start looking. After a few fruitless hours, Ginny resigned herself to the fact that most likely the information she sought would be in the restricted area and made plans for sneaking back to the library tonight.

As Ginny came into the Great Hall for dinner that night, she noticed two pots sitting in front of the Headmistress. There were murmurs across the hall as students were speculated as to what was going on, and after all the students had filed in, McGonagall stood up.

"Quiet everyone!" McGonagall's voice rang out throughout the hall with the use of the Sonorus spell. The students were soon quiet, and McGonagall gestured to the two pots.

"This year, Hogwarts is instituting a program common among the Muggles. It is known as the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program and will pair a seventh year student from one house with a first year student from another. As your name is called out, please stand," McGonagall said and started calling out names. Ginny went back to talking quietly with Heather and looked up when she heard her new friend's name.

"Donninc Baroun, Ravenclaw."

Ginny looked over at Donninc and saw his gaze sweeping over the room. When his eyes met hers, a slight smile appeared on Donninc's face before he continued looking around the room.

"Faye Rookwood, Slytherin."

Donninc looked over at the slim, blond haired girl who eyed him warily and Donninc nodded at her with a warm smile before sitting down. Ginny smiled slightly, not envying Donninc in the slightest for being paired with a Slytherin before returning to her conversation with Heather until it was her friend's turn.

"Heather Maxell, Gryffindor."

Heather stood up and looked down at Ginny, making a mock panicked face. Ginny snorted and took a bite of her rice pudding.

"Sebastian Young, Ravenclaw."

Heather looked over at the Ravenclaw table and smiled at the young boy whose eyes widened as he looked over at the attractive brunette. He blushed slightly and quickly sat down, trying to hide among his fellow Ravenclaws.

"He's cute," Heather said, sitting back down, and Ginny's eyes widened, looking at her dorm mate in disbelief.

"He's eleven!"

"Yeah, well. He's still cute," Heather said and playfully elbowed Ginny in the ribs. "Can a big sister give her little brother tips about making out? Y'know, show him how it's done?"

"HEATHER!"

"I'm kidding!" Heather snorted out through a chuckle and playfully pushed Ginny again.

"Ginny Weasley, Gryffindor."

Ginny frowned, as there was some hushed whispering from the student body about her as she stood up, and Ginny couldn't help but snort. This must have been how Harry felt.

"Aleksandr Dolohov, Hufflepuff."

Ginny's eyes widened as she looked over at the boy. It couldn't be…. Aleksandr's deep-set violet eyes met her gaze evenly as if daring her to say something. She knew then who he was. Ginny looked over at McGonagall, and the Headmistress only frowned slightly before pulling out the next name. Ginny sat down mutely and felt that her appetite had left her.

"He's cute," Heather said beside her in a tone meant to instill some humor into the heavy mood that had just settled onto her friend. Ginny just turned and looked at her incredulously.

"What?" Heather asked, confused. "What's the big deal?"

Ginny cleared her throat. Of course Heather wouldn't know.

"His father is Antonin Dolohov, a Death Eater… and… he murdered my uncles Fabian and Gideon. His… father murdered them."

Heather blanched and looked over at the Hufflepuff table before turning back to her friend.

"Well… he's not a Slytherin, so maybe he's not that bad," Heather said with a false cheerfulness. But seeing that it wasn't going to work, Heather just fell silent and laid a hand on Ginny's arm. "It'll be okay. He's not his father."

Ginny sighed and nodded at Heather, saying that she was heading up to the dorm and with a quick glance over at the Hufflepuff table, Ginny stomped out of the Great Hall.

Ginny went up to her dorm room and fell onto the bed. After a moment, she sighed and went to her desk where Ginny wrote a letter to Hermione and Fred, telling them both about the recent development with Dolohov and then, in Hermione's letter, asking her what she knew about Silenus and the Hermetic Order of the Falcons. She went up to the Owlery and sent both letters to the Burrow with a request that her Mum put the letter to Hermione in the Muggle mail.

Ginny then climbed back in bed and feigned sleep when the girls came upstairs a few minutes later. Ginny lay on the bed, listening to the sounds of her dormmates getting ready for bed and finally lying down. She waited until she was fairly certain that they had drifted off before climbing out of the bed and silently creeping towards the door. She was halfway there when Ginny heard a voice from Heather's bed.

"Watcha doin'?"

"Shh," Ginny whispered and moved closer to the door.

"You shh!" Heather said and climbed out of the bed. Ginny looked back as Heather pulled on her robes.

"Go back to bed," Ginny whispered.

"Shh!" Heather said and started to move toward the door.

"Both of you shh," Lavinia murmured from her bed. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

"Shh," Ginny and Heather both said at the same time, and the girls giggled softly as Heather closed the distance to Ginny and took her arm.

"Where are you going?"

"Library."

"Library's closed," Heather said in an eerily good imitation of Hermione.

"I know that," Ginny said petulantly and opened the door, dragging Heather out with her. "I'm going to the restricted section. Now, go back to bed, Heather."

"Uh… no," Heather said with a smug grin and started heading down the stairs. "If you're sneaking into the library then you'll need someone to play lookout for you in case Filch or a teacher comes along."

Heather looked back and saw Ginny still standing at the top of the steps.

"Well? C'mon! The library's not coming to you!"

Ginny chuckled and followed her friend down the stairs before sneaking out of the tower and down the halls to try and find some more information on the role that Ginny seemed to be fated to fill.

Shortly before dawn, Heather and a disgruntled Ginny snuck back into Gryffindor tower and climbed into bed for a little sleep before having to wake up for breakfast. About the time Ginny was drifting off, the rest of her room started waking up, making noise and getting dressed for the day. Ginny groaned and rolled out, looking over to see a bleary-eyed Heather who looked as bad as Ginny felt. As Heather and Ginny dressed, the taller brunette leaned over to her friend and muttered, "Remind me never to offer to help you sneak to the library ever again."

Ginny grinned through a yawn and muttered, "More often?"

Heather chuckled, and they stumbled down the stairs and out to the Great Hall. The hall was full by the time they got there, and the girls had to force themselves to stay awake as they ate. Ginny was startled as Pig landed on the table in front of her. Yawning, Ginny untied the letters from the owl's leg and saw one was from Fred and the other from Hermione.

_Teeny Weeny Geeny, _

_There was a motto that Gred and I came up with when we first came to Hogwarts, and I'm going to share this pearl of wisdom with you now, dear sister._

_PRANK HIS ARSE!_

_Fred_

Ginny smiled and tucked the letter in her robes. She then opened her other letter and read Hermione's response, which dampened her mood a bit.

_Ginny,_

_I'm sure I don't have to remind you that sons aren't copies of their fathers. Didn't Draco Malfoy prove that last year? Just because Antonin Dolohov was a monster doesn't mean that his son is one as well. Just consider that before doing something that your brothers might recommend._

Ginny chuckled. Hermione knew her and her brothers TOO well.

_As for your questions, here's what I could find or theorize. _

_Silenus was the oldest of the satyrs, which were followers of Dionysus (Greek god of wine, vegetation and fertility) and half-men/half-goats. Silenus was always drunk and sometimes prophesied the future. King Midas once had Silenus as a guest and was so hospitable that Dionysus granted the King any wish. This is how Midas acquired the ability to make anything he touched turn to gold. To his horror, Midas soon discovered that he could no longer eat or drink, because anything he brought to his lips instantly became gold. Midas prayed to Dionysus to take back this power so he wouldn't die. Dionysus granted his prayer, telling Midas to wash his greed in the river Pactolus. Midas did as he was told and it was said that to this day the river sands of the Pactolus are gold. It is believed that it was from this river and thus this myth that Nicholas Flamel took his formula. That from the sands of the Pactolus he crafted the Philosopher's Stone._

_As for the Hermetic Order of the Falcons, I don't know as much. Silenus is well documented in Wizarding and Muggle books, but this order is not. I can only give you some theories based upon what you told me about them._

_First, the name. "Hermetic" refers to Hermes Trismegistus. This is a name given by Greeks and others to the Egyptian god Thoth or Tehuti, the god of wisdom, learning and literature. Thoth is alluded to in later writings as "twice very great" and even as "five times very great" in some demotic or popular scripts. To him was attributed as "scribe of the gods" the authorship of all sacred books, which were thus called "Hermetic" by the Greeks. These, according to Clemens Alexandrinus were forty-two in number and were sub-divided into six portions, of which the first dealt with priestly education, the second with temple ritual and the third with geographical matter. The fourth division treated of astrology, the fifth of hymns in honor of the gods, and a sixth was medical. It is unlikely that these books were all the work of one individual, and it is more probable that they represent the accumulated wisdom of Egypt, attributed in the course of ages to the great god of wisdom._

_As "scribe of the gods," Thoth was also the author of all strictly sacred writing. Hence by a convenient fiction the name of Hermes was placed at the head of an extensive cycle of mystic literature, produced in post-Christian times. Most of this Hermetic and Trismegistic literature has perished, but all that remains of it has been gathered and translated into English. It includes the "Poimandres," the "Perfect Sermon," or the "Asclepius," excerpts by Stobacus, and fragments from the Church Fathers and from the philosophers, Zosimus and Fulgentius. These writings have been neglected by theologians, who have dismissed them as the offspring of third century Neo-Platonism. According to the generally accepted view, they were eclectic compilations, combining Neo-Platonic philosophy, Philonic Judaism and Kabalistic theosophy in an attempt to supply a philosophic substitute for Christianity. The many Christian elements to be found in these mystic scriptures were ascribed to plagiarism. By an examination of early mystery writings and traditions it has been proved with some degree of certainty that the main source of the Trismegistic Tractates is the wisdom of Egypt, that they "go back in an unbroken tradition of type and form and context to the earliest Ptolemaic times."_

_Mr. G. R. S. Mead, author of "Thrice Greatest Hermes" says-_

"_The more one studies the best of these mystical sermons, casting aside all prejudices, and trying to feel and think with the writers, the more one is conscious of approaching the threshold of what may well be believed to have been the true adytum of the best in the mystery traditions of antiquity. Innumerable are the hints of greatnesses and immensities lying beyond that threshold- among other precious things the vision of the key to Egypt's wisdom, the interpretation of apocalypses by the light of the sun."_

_Now, I'm guessing that you're probably wondering what all this means._

Ginny snorted. That was a bit of an understatement.

_By identifying themselves as a "Hermetic Order," then they are claiming to take insight from the Egyptian god Thoth and his writings. They are identifying themselves as an enlightened society that either dates back to the times of the Egyptians, or more likely the Greeks, given their interest in Silenus. Or they are just using this name to make the order seem more ancient and mysterious than it really is. Which one is the case is hard to say without actually being a member of said society. _

_Now, look at calling themselves Falcons. In general, falcons are a symbol of the sun and the masculine powers of nature. It is particularly important in Egyptian mythology where it was sacred to Re, Egyptian god of the sun. It was also a popular form of the god Horus. Like the eagle, the falcon, with its strength and high flight, represents freedom of spirit, which perhaps explains its popularity as a sporting bird in Renaissance Europe. _

_And finally, the ring. The falcon is most likely done in gold for this continued interest in the sun, the "giver of light, fire and life." An amethyst is, of course, a purple stone, so they might have chosen it as a symbol of royalty, due to the fact that in ancient Greece the purple dye was something that could only be afforded by the rich. Furthermore, an amethyst is the stone of humility, peace of mind and piety. It was associated with Dionysus, possibly because water in an amethyst jug looked like wine. So by choosing the amethyst, they may be establishing another tie to Silenus as well as it standing as a symbol of their faith in his works. A symbol of their piety._

_As for these Writings of Silenus, I have found numerous references to them, but I have no books containing any of his prophecies. I'm sure that you've most likely searched the library at Hogwarts. It shouldn't fail you._

_Note their emphasis on "the sun." Falcon is a symbol of the sun. Gold, the sun. Mead, as mentioned above, said "the light of the sun." Given what you wrote about the excerpt from that portion of the prophecy about Harry possibly being "the Sun," then it would seem that this order appears to have an interest in Harry. Until you figure out what that is, I'd be careful. _

_I know what your hope is. That these writings will prove definitively that Harry is alive. And while there is only one thing in this world that I personally want more than that, I feel it is my responsibility to warn you that hope can be a dangerous thing. The Muggle-born wizard, Sir James Barrie, once said, "Dreams do come true, if we only wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it." Anyone that knows you, Ginny, would know how you felt and still feel about Harry. They would probably know the extent you would go to if it meant finding Harry, if he were still alive. I'm just worried that you might get your hopes up and then have them crash down if this prophecy proves to be a hoax. _

_Putting that aside for now, consider this. Why would Harry hide from you? From his friends? If he WERE still alive, why would he not try to reach us? I guess I'm just saying this to ensure you don't put TOO much stock in prophecies. I remember what it was like for you when we lost Harry. I'd hate to see you go through that again. _

_Having said that, here's the supportive friend speech. I know that I hold out hope that one day Ron will either come out of this coma, or I will find something to help him. All the mediwizards say that he won't wake up. They say that there's no spell. No hope. So even though I am properly informed of everything that stands against my hope, I still maintain it. As I have pointed out the things that stand against your hope, I hope that you will still maintain your own. Remember always that I love you, and I'll help you anyway I can. _

_Hope this helps._

_Love, _

_Hermione_

Ginny sighed. She really loved Hermione, but sometimes she didn't understand a bloody word of what the girl said. Ginny decided that she would have to write back and ask if she could send an abridged version of her explanation. Ginny was tempted to write back saying that the Hogwarts library had indeed failed her, but she knew it would probably just break Hermione to hear that.

Ginny folded up the letter and stuffed it in her robes with Fred's note and the piece of parchment with the prophecy on it. She looked over and saw Aleksandr coming up to her.

"Ginny? Can I talk to you?"

Ginny eyed him coolly before nodding her head. She gestured to the space beside her, and Aleksandr sat down.

"Uh… I just wanted you to know, I talked to McGonagall. I told her about… I told her there may be a problem, and she said she'd talk to you and see if you wanted to be assigned another little brother."

Ginny's cool demeanor melted slightly, and she frowned at him.

"I… I know you know who my father is," Aleksandr said, his eyes finding something incredibly interesting on his robes. "So… I figured that you'd…."

"Aleksandr… it's okay. Yes, I know who your father is. And yes, I know what he did. But… I'm not going to ask to reassign you. Unless… you'd prefer…."

"No!" he answered immediately and then blushed a little at his own enthusiasm. "I mean… I'd rather, y'know, have you as my big sister."

Ginny smiled slightly. She couldn't help it. The boy was pretty sweet.

"All right, Aleksandr. We'll make this work," she said and held out her hand. Aleksandr smiled and shook her hand.

"My friends call me Alek," he said and quickly scurried back over to the Hufflepuff table. Ginny thought nothing of his hasty retreat until she reached for her pumpkin juice and noticed that her hand was starting to change to a putrid shade of green.

"He pranked me," Ginny whispered, as she looked at her hand. "HE pranked ME! ALEK! THIS MEANS WAR!" Ginny cried across the Great Hall, startling and confusing most of the room except for the Gryffindors around Ginny and a small group of Hufflepuffs around Alek. Ginny turned back to her meal and started to eat again, a smile on her face and various scenarios of how to get revenge on her little brother flying through her thoughts.

Yeah, she thought, Aleksandr might be okay after all.

**A/N: Disclaimer**: The information on Hermes Trismegistus is from the Encyclopaedia of Occultism. The symbolic nature of falcons and amethyst is taken from the Illustrated Book of Signs & Symbols.


	6. Mors Animus

**Chapter 6- Mors Animus**

**A/N: Apologies for the long delay, but Professor Reallife has this nasty habit of grabbing me by the ear and leading me into detention and other places I'd rather not go. Fortunately, I'm now free of my captivity and able to write again. Sorry it took so long and you guys have been awesome! Thanks for the wonderful reviews :)**

**Also, many thanks to my beta Falling Damps who's really helped keep me on track and has proved invaluable. I wouldn't have gotten this far without her.**

After breakfast, Ginny headed off to a double class of Potions with Slughorn. Today they were working on a Blood-Replenishing Potion and Slughorn made a circuit of the room, looking over each students shoulder to see how they were progressing. Her lab partner, Christian, showed neither a wealth of skill with potions or an overabundance of intelligence and most of Ginny's time was monopolized with explaining to him what they were supposed to be doing. So when Slughorn came around to their desk, neither one were even halfway done with their project.

"Mister Tess, what do you have here," Slughorn asked, leaning over Christian's shoulder to look in his cauldron. "Is that servae root?"

"Uh…," Christian looked over at Ginny and when she nodded her head minutely answered that it was.

"Hmm… clever. But you'll need to hurry up if you want to get full credit," he said off-handedly and looked in Ginny's bowl. "Interesting. Servae root."

Slughorn chuckled quietly and Ginny strained to hear if he muttered anything while making notes on his board.

"Miss Weasley, whatever did you do to your hand?"

Ginny growled as she pulled her hand under the table to try and draw less attention to herself. She hadn't yet found a way to restore the natural color to her hand rather than the disgusting green color that Alek had turned it into.

"A prank, Professor Slughorn."

"Well, shame shame. I trust you've tried the Finite spell?"

"Yes Professor. It turned it blue for an hour."

"Mm-hm," he said and Ginny turned to look of her shoulder. By his tone, she could've sworn that he was amused and she found her suspicion confirmed by the smirk on his face and the twinkle in his eye. She sighed and went back to her work as the Potions teacher continued his circuit around the room. By the time he got back around to the front, class time was up and everyone had to turn in their potions. Pouring her concoction into a phial and putting a stopper in it, Ginny was one of the last to make her way to the front and when she turned hers in, Professor Slughorn asked her to stay a moment.

"Miss Weasley, " Slughorn began as the last of the students filed out. "Tomorrow night I'm having a first meeting of the Slug Club just after dinner. If you would like to bring a friend, I'd be delighted if you would attend. And perhaps… by that time I could have a potion prepared that could take care of your little… problem," Slughorn said with a smile that nearly disappeared under his silvery moustache.

"That would be nice, Professor," Ginny said through a forced smile and quickly exited the room. She remembered Slughorn's parties from the past couple years and it was still a mystery to her as to why Sluggie kept bringing her along. At first, she had figured it was because she had been with Harry at the Department of Mysteries two years ago, but now Harry was gone and she was still part of the Slug Club. But then again, Slughorn had always been something of a mystery to her. He certainly wasn't what she thought of when she pictured the stereotypical Slytherin.

As Ginny headed up the stairs, she passed Christian talking to a group of second years who were hanging on his every word. She chuckled, remembering how when she was their age so many of her friends were fascinated by the older students. The seventh year boys just seemed so much mature and wiser than the ones in their year. The boy could've told them that the world was actually shaped like a pear and they might've believed him if he told them they'd read about it in class when they were his age. But for Ginny, there was only one older boy that she truly listened to and the only one that she believed when he told her something too fantastic to be believed.

She just waved at her lab partner when he nodded to her as she passed them on the stairs and heard the sounds of laughter and chatter as she headed towards the Great Hall for lunch. As she stepped into the room, she stopped suddenly, almost as if struck. All this school year, she had been walking about in a sort of haze. Making the motions of going to class and doing the things a dutiful seventh year student should do, while the whole time it just felt like she was killing time. Waiting for something to happen. Time was something she had become painfully aware of since the end of the war. It seemed not to fly as it did when she was young. It crawled. She was no longer the little girl with bright eyes and a mind filled with wonder at what the world held. She was older and wiser. That last little bit of childhood innocence had started bleeding away when Voldemort took hold of her and it died when he did.

When she stood here now, looking at the small first years that joked and smiled and showed that innocence she once possessed, Ginny couldn't help but feel a bit envious of them and protective. They had the privilege of getting to grow up in a world without knowing fear. The time they spent here at school could be spent in having fun with their friends and learning spells to help them in a career. Rather than spells to save their lives one day. Their life wouldn't be rushed, but spent as a childhood should- with laughter and love, not lamentation and loss.

Ginny smiled at Heather and headed that way, but stopped and headed over to the Hufflepuff table.

"Hey," Ginny said and Alek turned to look at her warily.

"Uh… hey."

"I was just invited to Slughorn's Slug Club and he said I could bring a friend, so I thought I'd see if you'd like to go. I should be… fun," she said with a sweet smile. This immediately put Alek on alert as she figured it would. She figured he must be thinking that she was plotting some serious payback for the prank this morning. And while she was, she wasn't going to be so obvious as to do it the same day. Oh no. She would wait until her prey had dropped his defenses and thought there would be no reprisals. Ginny knew she was correct about Alek as he eyed her suspiciously, trying to work out what she was up to.

"Shhhh-ure," he drew out the word and a small smile crept onto his face. Ginny grinned and patted him on the back before walking away. She glanced over her shoulder as she headed to her table and saw Alek turning to see if she had put something on his back.

"By Merlin, this is going to be TOO easy," she muttered to herself with a big grin and took a seat at Heather's side.

"Heather? Were we that small when we started school here," Ginny asked, drawing her dormmate's attention to the first years.

"Nah. I know I was about twice as tall as Sebastian when I was his age. But don't tell Sebastian that," she said in a stage whisper. "Boys are so fragile."

Chuckling, Ginny stabbed her fork into the haggis and took a bite.

"How's Alek turning out?"

"He seems like a good kid," she replied, after washing her food down with some pumpkin juice. "At least he's got a sense of humor."

Heather chuckled softly and Ginny saw her friend glancing at the discolored hand.

"Shut up," Ginny muttered good-naturedly and her dormmate laughed out loud now.

"And how do things look on the boyfriend front? Any sparkage with a dark-haired Ravenclaw? As in… Baroun?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and took another bite of her food before answering.

"I'm not interested in boys right now, Heather."

Her friend frowned and put her fork down, looking uncharacteristically serious.

"Ginny… Harry's not coming back…."

"Drop it," Ginny said severely and glared at her friend. Taken aback, Heather picked up her fork and the rest of the meal was spent in a tense silence.

After lunch, Ginny had Defense against the Dark Arts with Professor Doge and then went on to Muggle Studies where she and Heather ended up sitting next to each other without talking. A first for Heather.

When they headed down to the Great Hall for dinner together, but uncharacteristically distant, Ginny was surprised to receive a visit from Pig. The owl landed on the table in front of her, pecking at her finger insistently.

"Pig! Stop. I'm getting the bloody letter," she swore and untied the letter from the owl's leg.

_Ginny, _

_Hermione has come to the Burrow and is requesting that you return home as soon as possible. I have already spoken with Minerva and she has granted you permission to use her access to the Floo network. Hurry home dear._

_Love, _

_Mum_

Ginny looked up at the teacher's table and seeing that McGonagall wasn't there, she headed up to the headmistress' office. McGonagall called out for the student to enter and let Ginny use the Floo without further ado. Ginny sped home and found her parents, Fred, and Hermione in the living room.

"Ginny dear, come sit down," her mother said and patted a spot on the sofa next to her. Looking at her parents, Ginny could tell that by their somber expressions and the heaviness in the air that Hermione had already informed them about why the Hogwarts alumni was here. She frowned and sat down, leaning against her mom as Mrs. Weasley put an arm around her daughter.

"Okay," Hermione began, standing in the middle of the room, pacing and ringing her hands. "I think I know of a way that we can help Ron."

"What? How?" Ginny inquired moving forward, but relented to her mother trying to ease her back into the cushions and relax.

"Well, there's a spell… well, let me start at the beginning," Hermione said and anxiously ran a hand through her hair.

"Someone tore out the story of Icarus from Bulfinch's mythology and slipped it under my door. When I got over the initial shock and anger at someone violating a book like that, I actually read the story and it gave me an idea. The story of Icarus is largely regarded as a metaphor for a social fall. I thought… maybe what must be done is to…," Hermione paused and cleared her throat. "Look, the fact that Ron is still in a coma is due to a spell that is feeding off his magical ability. The spell is keeping his consciousness subdued. What needs to be done is… deny the spell its food source."

"How do we do that?" Mrs. Weasley asked and Ginny swallowed nervously. Afraid she already knew the answer.

"There were some very powerful spells in the journal of Rowena Ravenclaw. One of those was the Mors Animus spell. It's the spell that the Ministry used to destroy the dementors. On a wizard… it would… s-strip them of their ability to perform magic," Hermione replied soberly. "Instead of a wizard, they'd become, essentially, a squib. A social fall," she whispered.

"NO!" Ginny cried, standing up and breaking away from her mother's grip. "How could you even think of doing such a thing!"

"I have talked with the mediwizards, Ginny. The spell that is on him is preventing magic from healing him. It has also proven to be resistant to all attempts to dispel it. There's no…."

"But you said it was the Cruciatus!"

"I… thought it was. I don't know. I was busy fighting for my life at the time, Ginny! It looked like the Cruciatus. But… what's affecting Ron is some sort of Dark magic that the mediwizards can't identify. Presumably something that either Lucius Malfoy created himself or maybe Voldemort created and taught to Malfoy… I don't know. Unfortunately, the secret of that spell is locked away with Malfoy in Azkaban."

"Then the Ministry can make a deal with him," Ginny said and looked to her father for support. Her resolve weakened when she saw the defeated look on his face.

"Even if the Ministry was willing to make a deal with a Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy would never give up the secret of that spell if it meant… helping us," Mr. Weasley said quietly, his face grim and Ginny didn't like where this conversation was going.

"What happens if we don't strip his magic?" Fred asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Then, most likely nothing. Ron will continue to stay in a coma and the mediwizards will have to continue performing the spells to prevent the atrophy of his muscles. He'll never… he'll never wake up. But it doesn't have to be…."

"Hermione, we'll have to think about this," Mr. Weasley interrupted.

"But it doesn't have to be…."

"Hermione! Thank you," Mr. Weasley said firmly and Ron's parents left to speak in private.

Neither Ginny nor Fred heard Hermione's last comment before Hermione apparated away, but the Weasley family soon found out what she meant when an owl arrived from St. Mungos an hour.

"Mom!"

Her parents re-entered the room and Mrs. Weasley scowled at her daughter for yelling clear across the house until Ginny thrust the letter into her hands.

"Oh dear."

The family immediately apparated to the hospital and made their way up to the fourth floor. Ginny was the first into the room and she saw a very worried Ron who was fighting with the nurses to get out of bed.

"I have to see her! Where's 'Mione?"

"Ron!" Ginny shrieked and threw her arms around her brother's chest, crying into his chest. The nurses threw up their hands in relief.

"Thank goodness! Perhaps you can keep our patient from bolting," one of the nurses said to Mrs. Weasley.

"Let me go," Ron said, pushing away a very hurt-looking Ginny. "Where's Hermione? What did she do?"

"Do? What did…?" Mrs. Weasley shook her head, looking at the nurses.

A particularly grim-visaged nurse took Mrs. Weasley's arm and directed the parents out into the hall to speak while Ginny and Fred stayed with Ron.

"Ron, breathe," Ginny instructed. "You're looking a little red in the kipper."

Ron turned his attention to his little sister and Ginny realized she had never seen him looking this scared.

"Ginny, what did she do?"

"I don't… I don't know," Ginny said and then her eyes went wide. "She didn't!"

Fred's eyes also went wide as the same thought occurred to him.

"Didn't do what!"

"H-Hermione was talking about a spell. The, uh, Mors Animus spell that would… get rid of the magic that was keeping you in a coma, but it would take away your ability to work magic."

Ron was still red in the face and grabbed Ginny's wand from her side. He pointed it at the chair and chanted, "Wingardium Leviosa."

The two siblings watched in wonder as the chair lifted up off the floor and then crashed back down.

"That's not it, Ginny! WHAT DID SHE DO! She… she looked so… pale…."

Ginny was shocked and a complete loss now. She didn't have to answer as their parents came back into the room. Mr. Weasley was positively ashen and Mrs. Weasley had tears streaming down her cheeks. Their mother came over to the bedside and took Ron's hand, patting it lovingly.

"She c-cured you Ron. She l-loves you v-very much," Mrs. Weasley broke out into an almost wail and fell into her husband's arms.

"What did she do?" Ron asked again, getting really sick of sounding like a broken record.

Mr. Weasley cleared his throat and stroked his wife's back.

"Hermione found a way to draw that effect that was feeding off your magical essence into herself. She then collapsed as the spell started to work on her," he said so softly that Ginny had to strain to hear what he was saying.

"Hermione told us about an ancient magic spell. The Mors Animus…."

"Yes! Ginny mentioned it. What about it? What's wrong with Hermione?"

"She's… she's okay now. She gave up her ability to work magic to destroy the spell that was inside her."

Ron's eyes widened and Ginny gasped. As long as Ginny had known the older girl, Hermione had loved magic. She loved the theory of it. She loved the history of it. She loved being able to use it. Now, she had given it up.

"She… gave it up for me," Ron whispered and no one answered. They didn't have to.

Ginny got permission from McGonagall to stay at the hospital for an extended weekend, getting out of classes on Friday. Saturday morning, she was sitting in the chair at Ron's bedside and laughing softly with her brother's Bill and Charlie who had showed up yesterday after their dad sent an owl saying that Ron was awake. When they found out what Hermione had sacrificed for Ron, Bill joked that Ron should marry that woman. They all grew quiet when Ron's eyes widened and they turned to see Hermione in the doorway, smiling at them and looking… vulnerable.

"Why don't we give them a moment alone," Ginny said, grabbing Bill's and Charlie's hands and dragging them out of the room. When Fred didn't follow them out, Ginny stuck her head back in the room.

"You too git!"

He smiled and shuffled his feet as he left the room and closed the door behind him.

"Wow," Charlie said and shook his head.

"I'll see your 'Wow' and raise," Bill said and smiled slightly. The other three just looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "What? Didn't you guys learn anything in Muggle Studies? I learned how to play poker."

Charlie shook his head and looked at Ginny.

"So, runt, anything interesting happening at school?" Charlie asked as an attempt to change the mood. Ginny thought about going with the flow and lying, saying that things were frightfully dull, but the idea of confiding in her brothers about the prophecy and the Falcons took hold and Ginny went with it.

"Yeah. There is," she said and told them everything. As she was finishing up the story, the door opened and Hermione smiled at the collected family.

"Ginny? Ron wants to talk to you."

Ginny nodded and started to move to the room but Bill caught her arm.

"We'll talk about this when you get back out," he said and Ginny nodded. She stepped into the room and Hermione closed the door behind her. Ginny turned and pulled Hermione into a hug as the other girl ran her hand over the long braid Ginny had her hair done up in.

"I like what you've done with your hair," Hermione said as they parted.

"Thank you for what you did…," Ginny started and found that she couldn't finish, suddenly getting choked up and tears welled in her eyes. Hermione just nodded and let go of her friends' hands as she directed the younger girl up to the bed and bring Ginny's attention to her brother.

"How are you Ron?"

"You do realize that's the third time today you've asked me that, right? Like… today?"

Ginny blushed slightly and gently punched her brother's arm.

"Ow! Ow, still wounded here!"

"You are not," Hermione mumbled and shook her head at her hopeless boyfriend. Ron smiled and Ginny took his hand in hers. Running her thumb over his knuckles and her eyes wetting again as she felt his hand responding beneath hers, as it hadn't done for the past few months.

"Look, Ginny, before we left the castle, Harry told me that he wanted you to have his place in case… anything happened to him. We used it as a base of operations while doing research in the library at Hogwarts or going through Dumbledore's private library."

Ginny's eyebrows raised and her eyes widened in surprise and Ron chuckled.

"Yeah. McGonagall allowed us access to his stuff and the restricted section in the library. I thought Madam Pince was going to go mental when she found out. We kinda hoped that we'd find something about the horcruxes that Dumbledore hadn't had time to share. Maybe a book or something, but there was nothing. Anyways, it's Number 10, Warwick Avenue, London. He said that anything in there is yours and… that the, uh, password was…," Ron mumbled something and his ears turned red.

"What? You'll have to repeat that," she said impatiently.

"The password to release the spell on his trunks was… was… somethinghesaidtoyouinbed!"

Hermione snorted and Ginny's ears turned as red as Ron's as she figured out what he was saying.

"Oh."

"I don't want to know," Ron said, holding up his hands and shaking his head. "I swear I think Harry was trying to kill me when he said that. Or get me to kill him! I don't want to know. What I DO want to know is when the bloody hell I'm getting out of here!" Ron said, looking over at the still smiling Hermione.

"Soon," his girlfriend replied. "Your parents are talking with the mediwizards now to see about letting you come back to the Burrow."

"Oh, okay," Ron said, slumping back on the bed. "And where is George? I figured he was taking care of the shop while Fred was here, but I thought he'd drop by at least once. I didn't do something to piss him off, did I?"

The smile disappeared from Hermione's face and Ginny's previous good mood suddenly evaporated. She really thought that she had gotten over the loss. That with time she would feel it less when someone mentioned his name and reminded her of what happened. That's what everyone has told her at least. So far, it seemed like a lie. The pain would never go away.

"He… George was with the Order of the Phoenix when they got us into the caves. While we went after Voldemort and his closest cronies, they fought at the mouth of the cave against his other Death Eaters," Hermione explained and Ginny was grateful for it. She didn't have the heart to tell the story. "While we fought against Lucius Malfoy, Lestrange and Pettigrew, the twins managed to slip in and came to back us up. That's when Malfoy hit you with… whatever spell it was. George moved to help you while Fred covered for him and Pettigrew took advantage of George's split attention. Pettigrew killed him."

Ron paled and his hand tightened around Ginny's, almost to the point of crushing it. Ginny winced and tried to pull away.

"Ron," she gritted out and he looked down at where her finger was becoming red.

"Sorry," he muttered and ran his hands through his hair. He then swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. "I want to go home."

"Ron, just calm down," Hermione said, quickly closing the distance between them and laying her hands on his chest. "The war is over. Voldemort is gone. Pettigrew… is gone."

Ginny bit on her lip. While she knew that Peter Pettigrew had escaped, he had abandoned his lord to save his own skin, she knew that Ron would take his being 'gone' in the sense that Hermione intended it. That he was no longer a threat. And while this was more or less true, Ron would probably assume that he was dead. But given the look on his face and the state he was in, that little lie was probably for the best. It was something that right now Ron wasn't ready to handle. She didn't really think Hermione should have told him the truth about George, but she knew her brother well enough that he would have pressed them for the truth until they gave it up. The youngest Weasley sighed and moved over to help Hermione with pushing Ron back into bed.

"She's right, Ron. You still need your rest. There's nothing to be done now," she said and between the two of them, Ron let himself be placed back in bed and covered with the sheet. Hermione moved to the bedside and quietly started talking to Ron. Feeling like a third wheel all of a sudden, Ginny quietly let herself out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"How are they?" Charlie asked.

"Fine. I'll catch up with you guys later. There's someplace I need to be," Ginny said and started to leave before Bill grabbed her arm again.

"Hey, we need to talk about this Order and the prophecy."

"We will. How long will you boys be home?"

"Rest of the week," Bill answered and Charlie nodded. Ginny smiled and gave them both a hug.

"Then I'll see about stopping by one night this week."

"Ginny," Charlie began, in a fair imitation of Percy. "you know that it's against the rules to leave the school unless it's on a school trip."

"Hey, I'm a teenager, right? I guess I have to rebel every now and then," she said with an impish smile.

Fred mock sniffled and wiped away an imaginary tear.

"Our little girl is all grown up."

Ginny smiled and swatted at Fred's arm, really needing the brief playfulness her brother's could provide in order to alleviate the heaviness that had set in shortly after stepping into that room. She had been fortunate in not having to spend a whole lot of her youth in the hospital rooms at St. Mungo's or at Hogwarts. Most of her time was brief in that she visited Ron when he was hurt by Sirius in her second year, or Harry when he had been hurt… just about every year. The hospital rooms always felt almost… repressive in their atmosphere. Attempts were made to cheer up the rooms with bright colors, flowers and colorful decorations, but they couldn't hide the fact that in those hospitals many people lay in beds dying or waiting for death to take them. Some, like Neville's parents, would most likely spend the rest of their lives in those rooms. Some, like Hermione, would have their life irrevocably altered in one.

Determined to leave this all behind her, Ginny gave each brother another hug before leaving the hospital and apparating to the address Ron had given her.


	7. The Journal of Harry Potter

**Chapter 7- The Journal of Harry Potter**

It had just started to snow when Ginny made her way out of the alley she Apparated into and headed down to the address Ron had given her. Back home, back when she was much younger, the snowfall had always fascinated Ginny. It had an ethereal beauty that mystified her young eyes, but that appeal had inevitably evaporated, much like the snow itself. Now, all that was left was a dreary discontent that welled up inside her as the young witch was forced to trudge through the gray slush left behind by the Muggle street cleaners.

Finally arriving at her destination, Ginny stopped and took in the charm of the small cottage. It was painted a dark blue with white shutters and a latticework covering the porch where she imagined flowers must've bloomed during the warmer months. She smiled and could easily see her brother rolling his eyes as they stood outside the cottage, and most likely argued with Hermione about purchasing it. Harry would've stood and looked at the house, an odd smile on his face while he tried to ignore their bickering. Feeling a new warmth spread through her, and not because of the coat and scarf she wore or the warming spell she had cast, Ginny's smile widened and she reached out to the doorknob. Wondering for a short moment how she'd get in, the young woman heard a click and she smiled again. Turning the knob, she opened the door and stepped inside. The rather Spartan décor made it obvious that not only was this place lived in for only a short time, but also it was clear it never had a woman's touch. And while Ron had said they'd used it as a base of operations and more than likely Hermione stayed there, they all had more important things on their mind than making this place feel like home. There was a sheet and pillow on the sofa and a cup of coffee still sitting on the table just outside the kitchen. Papers and books were scattered all over the room, and it looked like this is probably the room in which they had done most of their planning and research. She smiled softly and sat down in the chair that was closest to the table. She picked up the papers and read over them briefly, seeing Harry's scratchy, practically illegible writing. It made her smile again and for a moment she closed her eyes, picturing in her mind a scene that could have occurred. Her Harry would be sitting in this chair with papers in hand, writing on the armrest and stopping to chew on the end of his quill, as she watched him do so many times over the years they were together at school. He would set the papers down and take a sip from the cup sitting on the edge of the table. She smiled, easily picturing him frowning in consternation at how cold the coffee had become, not aware that he'd been sitting there for hours working on the papers and completely absorbed, unaware of the passage of time. She looked up at the clock on the wall and watched the ticking of the second hand for a moment, wondering just how many hours Harry had spent in this chair, making notes, plotting.

Did he spend any time thinking of her?

Sighing, Ginny set the papers down and stood up, taking off her coat and scarf. Looking around the room again, she saw that to the right of the front door was a staircase, and she headed up. The first bedroom she peeked into didn't have anything but a mattress in it. The other one had a mattress and a footlocker. Ginny smiled and knelt down in front of it, and then her ears turned red as she remembered Ron giving her a hint as to what the password was. Harry had in fact said quite a few things that night, and her neck and face starting to turn almost as red as her hair, she started listing off some things that might be the password. After a few minutes, she saw a sparkling on the top of the trunk as the protection spell fizzled out. Sighing, she opened the trunk and whispered to herself.

"Harry, when I find you, I'm going to kill you for that."

Inside the chest were Harry's school robes, some treats for Hedwig, and a photo album with magical pictures of Ron and Hermione, his parents and one of her in the dress she wore for Bill's wedding. It was a candid picture that Ginny didn't even know was taken. She smiled as she saw herself in the picture looking off the picture and her image's face just lighting up as she looked off-frame. She remembered the moment and knowing that it was Harry that her image was looking at. He had looked so handsome in the dress robes that Bill had picked out for the boys in the wedding. Harry didn't talk to her much during the wedding, and she was grateful for it. Back then, she didn't know what to say, and she just knew if she spent too much time with him that something might be said she'd regret. That didn't stop her from looking at him, though. She had thought he looked so sad throughout most of the ceremony, at least, when people weren't talking to him or paying too much attention to him. But there was hardly a moment of the wedding that her attention wasn't on him, even during the ceremony itself. She watched him and saw that in those rare moments when Harry wasn't being observed, his mask that seemed to say 'I'm okay' slipped away, and he would frown. It was those moments when his eyes would search her out in the crowd. He would only hold her gaze for a moment before that damned mask returned, and he'd smile at her. She remembered the ache in her chest when their gaze would meet that way from across the room, and she sighed, putting the album back in the trunk. She then picked up the robes and noticed a small, brown leather book at the very bottom. Setting the robes aside, Ginny picked it up and read the inscription on the front cover.

_The Journal of Harry James Potter._

Ginny's mouth opened and closed a couple times as she looked at the book and fought an internal battle as to whether or not she should open it. Hugging it to her chest, she closed the locker and left the house to go back to Hogwarts.

Ginny sat at the table in the common room Monday night and worked on her essay for Muggle Studies due tomorrow. Heather should've been here to work on her essay too, but Harper, the captain of the Slytherin team, had asked Heather if she wanted to go look at the stars with him. So now Ginny was sitting at the table alone.

This was the part that she always hated. That time of night when there was absolute silence. Not quiet. Quiet was what she had when Harry was around. When they would sit comfortably with each other and separately work on their essays or do research. Quiet was the way that they could sit in the same area for hours and not feel compelled to fill the room with idle chatter. Quiet was the comfortable blanket that they wrapped around themselves.

This was silence. The complete absence of his presence. Silence was the forlorn sound of just one quill scratching on parchment, not two. It was the absence of the odd little rumble that Harry did when he cleared his throat. The sound of the sleeves of his robe brushing against the armrest or his chest as Harry wrote at the table. Silence was the blanket that smothered her.

The silence was abruptly interrupted when the portrait hole opened and Heather came in, looking a little disheveled, with some grass stains on her robes. Heather smiled at Ginny and sighed as she plopped down into the chair beside her dormie.

"Ahhh."

Ginny smiled and continued writing on her paper.

"So… did you discover any new stars?"

"Plenty," Heather said with a sigh and sprawled out in the chair. "The Chin Constellation. And the Earlobe Constellation. The L-I-P-S Constellation."

Ginny chuckled and looked up from her work to shake her head at her friend.

"I don't remember those constellations in Astronomy class."

"I learned those constellations in class. What class were you in?" Heather said wickedly and laughed when Ginny shook her head again. She then leaned over to look at what Ginny was diligently working on. "Is that our Muggle Studies essay?"

"The one that's due tomorrow? Yes."

"Ugh! Gin-ny?" Heather drew her friend's name out in a sing-song way, and Ginny snorted.

"Yes, you can copy mine tomorrow morning. Good night."

"You are a goddess," Heather said and stood up, stretching languidly. "I am going to be dreaming about dashing, young, talented, virile…."

"Enough! Go to bed or you're getting sod-all to copy. Go!" Ginny said, mock-sternly, pointing to the dorms.

Heather stuck her tongue out at her dormie and ran up the stairs. Ginny heard the door thrown open and Heather saying, "guess who I just made out with," before the door closed shut.

She sighed and went back to working on her essay. Upstairs was definitely not a place she wished to be right now. Hearing the girls compare notes on the kissing techniques of different boys in the school would inevitably lead her into thinking about Harry. Unfortunately, it was too late for that.

Putting down the quill, she slid the books over so she could see the small brown leather journal at the bottom of the stack. Ginny touched the cover of the journal, feeling its texture before shaking her head and shifting the stack of books back on top of the journal. She went back to working on her essay and after a few grueling hours finally finished it. Stretching and yawning, she plodded up the stone steps to her room where the exhausted girl pulled on her nightclothes and crawled into bed.

Whispers.

Sighs.

The brilliant light

from the fire was the only

source in the room and its dancing flames

were fading out to the point that they provided

just enough warmth so that the room's occupants

remained warm and just enough radiance that

the lovers were bathed in a rich, golden glow.

Lips.

Thighs.

A dichotomous night.

Boy/Girl.

Man/Woman.

A desperate need to find

a moment of happiness before they

parted ways. Knowing that they had all night

before they had to leave and wanting to

make it a night to remember.

Haste/Serenity.

Grief/Passion.

An unforgettable night.

Pleasure.

Pain.

Harry gently

stroked her long mane

of flaming red hair

as they

lay

on the bed

that the

Room of Requirement

provided for them in this-

their first and their last night together.

Harry murmuring to her that everything

would be okay. That he would

always be with her.

Sighs.

Whispers.

Ginny woke up from her dream and had to calm her racing heart and kick off the sheets to try and cool down. Ginny shuddered as she stretched her legs and let out a slow, ragged breath. Getting up, Ginny grabbed her bathrobe and put it on before heading down to the girl's bathroom. Ginny looked at her reflection in the mirror for a moment, taking in every freckle along her nose and under her eyes. Her cheeks colored as she remembered Harry taking in the sight of the freckles along her shoulders and traced them down her back. Ginny turned on the cold water and splashed it on her face before wiping it off with the sleeve of her bathrobe and heading back upstairs. Ginny untied the sash around her waist and started to take the robe off before she realized there was no going back to sleep at this point. The dream had done a thorough job of waking her up.

Ginny opened up her trunk and ruled out one book after another of reading material until she found the leather journal. With the memories of her dream still fresh in her mind, Ginny wasn't sure if what she really needed right now was another reminder of her absent love. But the temptation to open the journal and read what Harry had written last year was just too much. Ginny picked up Harry's journal and headed downstairs to curl up in the chair by the fire and read.

Ginny used her wand to add fuel to the fire in the fireplace and then took a seat. She let out a deep breath and watched the fire crackling for a few long moments as her fingertip traced the Harry's embossed name on the cover of the journal. A slight smile spread across her face as she felt how… quiet the room seemed. Feeling that he was here with her, she opened to the first page.

_Property of Harry James Potter. If that's not you, what the bloody hell are you doing with my book!_

Ginny chuckled at the inscription and wiped away a tear that was starting to form at the corner of her eye. Harry's journal in her lap and only the sound of the crackling fire piercing the calm of the common room at this early hour, Ginny sighed and turned the next page.

_September 1, 1998_

_Hermione said a couple months ago that I should keep a journal for future generations. So they could know what we did. Course I told her why doesn't she do it then. After all, she could better explain what all we'll have to do than I ever could, but NO!_

_So here goes. _

_School let out a couple months ago after Dumbledore's death. For the record- that bloody, naffing GIT Severus Snape KILLED Dumbledore! Time and again I TOLD Hermione that that blithering idiot was bad! But NO! Did she ever listen to me? Or Ron? _

_I don't mean to attack Hermione, but it's just been tense lately. Ever since the wedding, I've been a little distracted. Ron and Hermione have been running around me all skittish, and it's getting old. I'm just looking forward to getting this over with. _

_September 5, 1998_

_Yesterday we went to Godric's Hollow. We wandered around the village for a little while before we finally found the spot where my parents were buried. It was weird standing there, looking down at my parent's tombstones. All my life, I'd known that my parents were gone, but standing there, looking at the inscriptions, it really sank in. _

_When we finally found the spot where my house used to be, we looked around the barren field that was there now to try and find something. I wasn't sure what but I just had the feeling I needed to be here. But all the evasive feeling gave up was a clue we couldn't find. _

_It was getting late at that point and we needed a place to stay. Hermione suggested we go to McGonagall and see if she wouldn't let us stay in the castle for the night, at least until we could find a place to stay and do some research. _

_September 10, 1998_

_I did some looking around today for a place that we could stay in the long term. Hogwarts was nice, but we were just bringing disaster to the people there if Voldemort found out we were still there. They had already violated the security of the school, they could probably find another way. Especially with Dumbledore gone now._

_So I found a small home that we could use. Hermione performed the Fidelius Charm on Ron, making him our secret keeper for where we were making our base of operations. That girl continues to impress me. She's going to be one hell of a witch._

_Professor McGonagall has given us full access to the school and any book inside it. I'm hoping we'll find something there that will give us a clue as to what the other Horcruxes could be, or where we could find them, or how we could destroy them. I'd take anything at this point._

_November 16, 1998_

_Staying away from Ginny is going to be harder than I thought. I figured that with our quest for the Horcruxes, I'd be anywhere but at Hogwarts and I'd most likely never see her again. But Hermione insists that the answers we need could be found in the books at the school, and I can't deny that she might be right. The problem is every time I see Ginny in there she finds someplace else she needs to be. I know it's the best course of action. If we're going to be apart, then it's best if we not see each other at all. But every time I see her I can't help but remember the way she felt in my arms. The way her lips felt on mine. The glimmer in her eyes when she looked at me in that private way that was meant for only me to see. I remember the sound of her laughter. The way her hair spread around her as we lay on the grass and tried to see who could picture the funniest shapes in the clouds._

_It makes me think about the life I could be having with her. Just one more bloody thing that Voldemort's taken from me._

_December 11, 1998_

_Hermione's been going through public records all morning. She's been coming up with a list of every known witch or wizard whose initials are R.A.B. Every year I think there are limits to Hermione's persistence. Then she does something like this to blow my perceptions out the window. _

_But after a couple weeks of her persistence, Hermione narrowed it down to a list of three. _

_Rudolf Arnold Brand- captain of the Heidelberg Harriers. Unlikely due to the fact that he is rather young._

_Reinhardt Adolfus Borgin- a possibility. He sells Dark Arts items._

_Regulus Alphard Black- the only one Hermione found from last term that we couldn't rule out. _

_That's when Hermione started smacking her forehead and cursing herself. She mentioned the old locket at the Black family house that none of us could open. I had completely forgotten about it. So we immediately went back to the house to get the locket. Ron thought he heard the sound of someone else in the house, but it didn't seem like anyone was there. We found the locket and Hermione used the Deletrius spell to destroy any enchantments placed on the locket and then Reducto to destroy the locket itself. I couldn't help but chuckle when we all let out a collective sigh when nothing happened. I guess after seeing what destroying one horcrux had done to Dumbledore, we all expec_

Ginny's brow furrowed as Harry stopped in mid-sentence, but then her eyes widened slightly as it picked up in a new paragraph, and she read on.

_Turns out Death Eaters had been watching Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore was the secret keeper for the Order, and I guess with his death Voldemort's lackeys were able to figure out where the Order had been headquartered. They showed up when I was putting an entry in my journal and while Ron and Hermione were searching the house for any other possible Horcruxes on the offhand chance that Regulus had brought another one back home with him. _

_The Death Eaters might have gotten the drop on me if it weren't for the ghost of Regulus Black showing up and warning me that they were coming!_

_Turns out that Regulus had indeed taken the Horcrux after realizing that he didn't have it in him to be a killer. Regulus has been a great help and has proven to be quite informative about these Horcruxes. He studied them for his remaining time with the Death Eaters and when he deserted, he was going to find Sirius and tell him everything. But the Death Eaters caught him before he could find Sirius. They dragged him to the cave I visited with Dumbledore and killed him there, turning the locket into a Horcrux._

_Regulus didn't know where all the Horcruxes were, but he knew that the Horcruxes were best hidden by being placed in an area connected with the person's murder. The locket in the cave where Voldemort killed him. The ring in the Gaunt's home. Which means that Hufflepuff's cup was quite possibly in the home of Hepzibah Smith. He also indicated that the sixth Horcrux was something that Avery had mentioned to Tom Riddle when they were in school at Hogwarts. Avery had been interested in a particular Ravenclaw girl who told him about a secret library in Ravenclaw tower that only the smartest students could figure out how to enter. She didn't say, but Avery suspected that she knew how to get in. When Riddle pushed Avery to find out from her, he said that the girl had lost interest in him. Apparently Avery didn't meet her high standards. Riddle then began wooing this girl himself and from what Regulus heard, Riddle got her to let him into the library. Among other things was a journal from Rowena Ravenclaw herself that contained numerous ancient magic spells that only a handful of wizards and witches had ever seen. Regulus suspected that this journal was the sixth Horcrux and that it was hidden in that library, because that girl was never seen again. When questioned about it, Riddle only said that she had gone home after finding the life of a witch wasn't for her. _

_This got me to thinking. Cho had once mentioned that the Grey Lady first showed up about fifty years ago. That would have been during the time that Riddle was in school at Hogwarts. So maybe the Grey Lady was this girl that Riddle seduced and then probably killed. So tomorrow we're going to return to Hogwarts and get McGonagall's permission to go into Ravenclaw tower. If this is the girl, then maybe we can talk her into letting us into the library. If it isn't, then certainly the Grey Lady knows whether or not there's a secret room and if so how to get in. So win-win._

_I asked Regulus why he hadn't shown up with this information before now. Where he was when Dumbledore and I showed up at the cave. How he got the locket back to Grimmauld Place when he was a ghost._

_He explained that he had ordered Kreacher to Apparate to the cave and told him how to cross the lake. Regulus then ordered Kreacher to drink the liquid from the basin, just as Dumbledore had done, and Regulus had to order Kreacher to drink the whole thing, and knowing this I wondered if that was why Kreacher was so loopy now. _

_His next reply answered my first two questions. Augustus Rookwood, one of Voldemort's supporters, used to work for the Department of Mysteries. Rookwood always hated Regulus in life and had wanted to kill Regulus himself. Denied the pleasure, he instead dragged Regulus' spirit back to the Department of Mysteries to be experimented on. Even when Rookwood was caught and imprisoned for giving secrets over to Voldemort, Regulus was still kept in the Department of Mysteries for study. Only recently, with the changing of Ministers was Regulus released tonight and he came straight here._

_We're lucky to have him here, but it's kinda eerie at times. Not because he's a ghost but because he reminds me so much of Sirius. There are times when he looks at me and I smile because he looks so much like Snuffles that it hurts. I can't wait to get this over with._

_December 13, 1998_

_Regulus was right and so were my suspicions. The Grey Lady, with quite a bit of sweet talking, admitted to the fact that she was indeed the silly little girl that Tom Riddle had talked into letting him see the secret library. We found out that Riddle had gotten her to show him into the room and then he used the Body-Bind curse on her. He cast some spells in the room and then bent down and kissed her. Riddle whispered in her ear before leaving the room, "I know this will come as little consolation, but your death will bring me eternal life. But that is something I give to you as well, my dear. You will continue to exist… forever."_

_I was confused by what he could have meant by that and decided to ask Regulus about it later. The Grey Lady said that when she could move again, she found that the door was sealed and she had no way of leaving. She eventually starved to death in that room. _

_When I told her that we were out to kill Tom Riddle, she was all too happy to help and showed us the way to the secret library. We started to look through the books until the Grey Lady pointed to a bluish-gray one. Hermione reached out to touch the book and as soon as she did a green gas started to spill out of it. Ron knocked the book away and grabbed Hermione as we headed for the door. But it was sealed, we couldn't escape and the gas was starting to fill the room. As the fumes got to us, we found it hard to breathe and we all started choking. We were spared when the door opened and a first year Ravenclaw with an amazed look on his face stood there with the Grey Lady behind him. We staggered out of the room and closed it shut. Once we recovered, Ron pointed out that the book was still in there. Hermione recommended the Bubble-Head charm and, properly armed this time, we went back in and got the journal. I think Hermione was happier to see this bloody book than I was, and she spent the better part of two hours going on about the spells in it when we returned home. I then remembered Riddle's comment to the Grey Lady and Apparated to Grimmauld Place. After a while of searching for him, Regulus came up through the floor and not for the first time gave a smile that reminded me so much of his brother. He said that the spell used to create the Horcruxes had the unintended effect of bringing back a wizard or witch as a ghost, whether or not that was their wish. When I got back home, we made plans of finding where Hepzibah Smith lived and see if the cup was there._

_December 16, 1998_

_Regulus was right about the ghosts it would seem. When we finally found where Hepzibah lived, we found that her ghost had been haunting the home since her death, and no one had purchased the house. With Hepzibah's help, we found where Voldemort hid the cup of Hufflepuff. When I touched the cup, I felt an oily substance on its surface and noticed the veins on the back of my hand turning black. _

Ginny cringed as she read this. She knew that Harry lived through it. She knew that he was okay, but to read about the danger he had gone through chilled her blood.

_Hermione immediately suspected poison and Apparated away. When she returned, Hermione shoved a bezoar into my hand, and I immediately used it. I looked in the mirror and saw that the blackness hadn't stopped and was working its way up my neck. Ron cried that it wasn't working, but Hermione insisted that we needed to just give it time. The poison came up to my head, and I felt a cold pain in my brain, like I had eaten too much ice cream. I wasn't aware of having passed out, but when I woke up Hermione, Ron and Madam Pomfrey were all around me, and I was lying in a bed at Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey made a comment about it not being a regular school year without me gracing her infirmary at least once. Apparently the bezoar had worked, but Ron didn't have the confidence in it that Hermione did and Apparated with me back to Hogwarts. Hermione told me that while I was out, she returned to the house and washed off the cup before dispelling the magic around it. Five down, all that was left was to find Voldemort. Kill Nagini. Then kill Voldemort._

Ginny's breath caught in her throat as she saw the date of the next entry.

_December 20, 1998_

Ginny remembered it clearly. Harry had told her that they had caught up with Draco Malfoy and sent him to Azkaban. Ginny learned later from Hermione that "Draco had ratted out his Death Eater pals. Ron and I sought out Harry and found him in the Room of Requirement, reading."

"Tomorrow?" Ron had asked.

Harry had nodded. He was quiet for a moment before speaking up.

"I want you both to do something for me, for yourselves. Take the rest of the day off."

"Harry," I started. "I really think…."

"Hermione, we're ready. But today, I want you to go out. Live. Do whatever you want. Live the day like it's your last. Because it may be."

Hermione and Ron had spent the day together. Ginny found Harry wandering the halls, and they spent the day together in the Room of Requirement.

_December 20, 1998_

Last day before Christmas break. The day Harry disappeared. The day after they made love.

Uncertain of whether or not she should proceed, feeling, not for the first time, that she was intruding into Harry's private world, she read the first line and found a wellspring of emotions open inside her- relief, joy, pride, sorrow, loss, and profound love.

_There are so many things I wish I could have said, but so many reasons that I couldn't. Now that the end is in sight, I want to share those things, since it's possible I won't get another chance. ___

_I love you, Ginevra Molly Weasley. _

_A part of me regrets what happened last night. Only a small part, Ginny! So hear me out, before you throw the journal away or tear out the page._

Ginny stuck her tongue out at the book and moved her hand away from the top of the page where she was about to tear it out.

_If I don't make it out of this fight- I aim to Ginny, but if I don't- I need you to know that I wanted a future with you, Miss Weasley. For the first time, I've really started to picture a life for myself after Voldemort. And it just wouldn't be the same without you. _

_What we shared last night means more to me than I can express. I wish I had the words. I wish I was a poet, but I'm not. I'm just me. I'm the Boy That Loves Ginny Weasley. And I guess now that's a more fitting title and one I'm happy to embrace rather than the Boy That Lived. _

_My regret is that I can't be there with you when you read this. I don't regret one moment I spent with you, Ginny. I just regret there won't be any more._

Ginny wiped the tears away as she read the last entry in Harry's journal. She knew that it wasn't Harry's intention to have sex the last night they were together. When he took her into the Room of Requirement to talk, he ended up just wanting to hold her. He wanted to be someplace that no one would see them. No one could leak word of their being together back to Voldemort. He felt safe there and so did she. The only people that would know what happened behind that hidden door would be the two of them. No one was going to barge in. No one could find them. No one would know. It was that security that made possible what happened that night.

"You weren't at my party Friday night," Slughorn said, making his way around the room to her. Since reading Harry's journal, Ginny had been a little distant and introspective. Her thoughts were scattered, ranging from missing her friends and wondering what they were doing now that the war was over to missing her boyfriend and wishing he were here. So when the hard to miss Slughorn actually managed to sneak up on her, it shook Ginny out of her thoughts.

"I'm sorry Professor. But… do you know about my brother Ron?"

"Miss Weasley, your brother was part of the magical trio that brought down Voldemort! I think the entire Wizarding world knows about Mr. Weasley! And the unfortunate tragedy that befell him," he finished, somberly.

"Well, on Thursday, Hermione… used a spell that got rid of the magic that was preventing Ron from waking up."

"That's amazing!" Slughorn said and clapped his hands together. "I always knew that one would make an incredible witch!"

Ginny blanched slightly and nodded her head, momentarily at a loss for words. Slughorn smiled down at her and started to move away, thinking there was nothing more to be said when she spoke softly.

"I'm sure she would have. But she used a spell that Rowena Ravenclaw invented. It was ancient and it… destroyed all the magic inside her, including the spell that she had taken off of Ron and placed in herself."

Slughorn paled and clasped a hand over his mouth.

"Oh my! Oh my!" he softly wailed and shaking his head wobbled back up to the front where the Professor sat in a daze and didn't say anything else for the remainder of the class.

Spending the rest of the class in thought, Ginny was the first out the door and away from the dungeons, brushing by students on her way to get to the lunchroom as quickly as possible. It wasn't hunger that called to her, but something deeper. Something that had her stomach tied in knots.

She wondered if this was how Harry had felt before he left. Not really knowing where he would have to go or what he'd find, but knowing that ultimately the answers wouldn't be found in the halls of Hogwarts. That to find the one he was looking for, he would have to leave the school. Smiling slightly as she entered the cafeteria, she realized she was keeping the new family tradition alive. Maybe her children would finish school.

Heading to the Ravenclaw table, Ginny bent over behind Donninc Baroun.

"Hey," she said and waited until he turned around to smile at her. "I'm going to take you up on your offer of help. I want to know everything there is to know about these prophecies. When they were written. How. What they mean. What do you believe has come true and what hasn't. And I want it now."

Donninc's eyebrows went up and a slight smile came to his face.

"Okay."

Ginny looked up from her reading and saw Heather wander into the room, dreamily. Ginny chuckled as Heather sat down at the table, still in a daze.

"So… I take it he was a good kisser?"

"No…" Heather replied, trailing of thoughtfully.

"Bad kisser?"

Heather looked up and seemed to focus on Ginny for the first time.

"What? Oh, no. I…," she began and was quiet for a long moment, during which Ginny began to think her dorm mate wasn't going to talk any more. Looking back up at her friend, Heather smiled sheepishly.

"I… uh, went to speak with Donninc after dinner. I… guess I wanted to know what his intentions towards you were."

"Heather," exclaimed the exasperated teenager.

"I'm sorry! Well…" Heather paused, seemed to think about it and then smiled slyly. "No, I'm not. But, I just wanted to know if he had come up with some BS just to spend time with you or something. And… so we talked."

"You've… been talking with Donninc all this time?"

"Yeah," she whispered, mystified.

"For six hours."

"Yeah."

"What about?" Ginny asked, setting down the notes of a 14th century monk that studied the Writings, and she looked up at her friend.

"Well, you for a little bit and Harry and the prophecy and Professor Binns and McGonagall and-"

"So in other words, a lot of things," Ginny interrupted with a grin and picked the notes back up.

"Yeah. He's wicked smart," Heather said emphatically. "I always heard smart was sexy, but I'd never really…."

Ginny chuckled and looked over at her friend. Heather was smiling and looking off into space, lost in her own thoughts. It brought a smile to the young Weasley's face and, not wanting to intrude on her friend's thoughts, she returned to reading. After a few minutes, Heather spoke up again.

"Can… I help? With the reading?"

Ginny glanced up and saw the timid look on her friend's face. The last time the two of them had talked about this, Ginny had nearly bitten Heather's head off. She smiled as Heather now showed her support and nodded.

"Yeah. Thanks."

Taking some notes from the table, Heather tucked her legs up under her and settled in for a couple hours of reading before bedtime.

The next morning, while going through books in the library, Alek came and sat down at the table with her.

"What's up," she asked, without looking up. Alek was quiet for a moment before clearing his throat.

"Ginny? What's going on? You're in the library all the time and skipping class and meals. And… excuse me! We're talking here," the first year boy said to Donninc as he took a seat beside Ginny. Donninc looked at the boy oddly and snorted.

"It's okay, Alek. Donninc's helping with my research."

"For what? Has this got something to do with that Mors Animus spell?"

Ginny looked at him confusedly for a moment.

"No… what makes you think that?"

"It's just… I was reading in the Daily Prophet about it. There's this big article about how the Ministry is pursuing Hermione Grainger about the spell. I thought you were like… maybe helping her with research it or something."

"No," she said at a loss and looked at Donninc. "I hadn't heard anything about that. You?"

"Yeah," he replied, nodding slightly. "I didn't mention it because I thought it might throw you off course. You need to stay focused if you're going to see this through, Ginny."

She frowned but nodded and turned back to Alek.

"What did the article say?"

"Here," the Hufflepuff student said and handed her the morning paper.

**MINISTRY SEEKS CURE TO THE DARK ARTS**

_Friday morning the world was shocked to learn that Ronald Weasley, one of the trio that brought down Voldemort, had awoken from the coma he had been in since that fateful battle. If that weren't enough, it was soon found out that Hermione Granger, another of our saviors, had brought him out of the coma at the expense of her own ability to use magic!_

_Before this weekend, it was believed that the Mors Animus spell could only be used to rid us of the dementors, but since then it has been buzzing around the offices of the Ministry. The question everyone is asking is if the Mors Animus spell should be used as a form of punishment. Proponents of the use of the spell have pointed out the use of chemical castration on repeated sex offenders in different countries was similar in concept. Detractors have pointed out the large difference between reducing the production of testosterone and obliterating the ability to wield magic. _

_What the Ministry will do…._

Ginny sighed and tossed the paper on the table.

Alek didn't ask her any more questions and headed off to class while she tried to get back into study mode. But no matter how much she tried to focus, her mind kept coming back to that article and what Hermione had gone through. After an hour, Ginny told Donninc goodnight and headed back upstairs.


End file.
